The Problem

"Located on an earthquake fault in Fort Collins, Colorado, roughly equidistant between a nuclear power plant and the Rock Flats plutonium facility, the NSSL is not exactly the Rock of Gibraltar." (1)

"The Agriculture Department estimates that the germplasm in seed banks has been responsible for crop improvements worth $1billion annually.  Yet the budget of the seed banks [is]  $30 million." (2)

"There are...30,000 varieties of corn from Latin America.  Only four scientists do the work of regenerating and evaluating those samples.  Each does about 30 samples a year, for a total of 120 annually.  At that rate, it would take 250 years to regenerate and evaluate the entire collection.  Samples may survive for several years or sometimes a few decades, but certainly not for centuries.  If the regeneration program is not expanded, many of the corn samples may soon die." (2)

" A century ago, the collection's value was unquestioned.  Seed collecting was the Agriculture Department's top priority.  In 1878, the agency spent a third of its budget on the collection of crop germplasm.  Today, the situation is quite different.  The seed bank system is the tragic victim of official neglect...Experts agree that at present funding levels, the integrity of the seed banks cannot be maintained.  The priceless treasure is dying." (2)

"Another potentially serious problem that could be stalking the nation's supposedly "safe" stores of plant-genetic material are seed-borne viruses.  Plant pathologist Richard O. Hampton of the USDA says that after seven years of research he has found evidence of "known or probable" seed-borne viruses in the government's seed collections for seventeen major crops, including corn, beans, soybean, and wheat." (1)

    ..........................................................So What?...................................................................
........................................................Why should we care?...........................................................

    It may seem that seedbanks are unimportant.  Judging from Congress's lack of concern (and appropriations) it could be deduced that seedbanks are a waste of time.  There are no American agriculture problems making headlines, so there is no problem, right?  Wrong.  Seedbanks are similar to savings accounts.  If one spends all of one's money in times of prosperity, what will be left when times aren't as good? If the country's seedbanks go on being ignored what will happen when when an agricultural disaster hits- there will be no money, or rather seeds left in the bank, and the effects could be devastating.  Seedbanks ensure biodiversity.  The greater the number of seed samples the more likely we will be able to find one that will resist a pest or disease, thus ensuring the protection of our food source.  But collecting seeds is not the solution in itself.  Collected seeds must then be regenerated. Major Goodman a crop scientist at North Carolina State University told Agriculture Research that "Samples from the 1950s have likely deteriorated to the point where only about 50 percent of the seeds in each sample will sprout...The seeds in each sample are not genetically identical.  Like a roomful of people, a seed sample is made up of individuals, each with its own set of genes.  If 50 percent of the seeds in a sample have died, many of the genetic traits in the original sample have disappeared with them.  If the seeds are not replanted and regenerated, their genes will continue to disappear as the sample deteriorates." If seeds are not regenerated as Goodman said seedbanks become "seed morgues."
    Seedbanks are necessary to help avoid crop disease and pests. One can imagine that if seedbanks had been around in the mid 1800s, Ireland might not have been so devastated by the blight that caused the potato famine.  Researchers use seedbanks to find disease resistant seeds that can prove a weapon against disease that would otherwise be harmful.  Similarly certain seeds are resistant to pests that may otherwise ravage crops.  With such seeds, farmers would not have to rely so heavily on pesticides, and with that improve the quality of food.
    Similarly, plant exploring could reveal seeds that could revolutionize the agriculture industry.  Hugh Iltis a botanist from the University of Wisconsin found Zea diploperennis, "a perennial cousin of corn that could be crossed with corn to produce perennial corn plants. Such an achievement could transform the American grain belt...into a huge "orchard" of corn.  Farmers would plant corn "trees" once, and the perennial corn would yield a harvest year after year - without plowing, planting, or soil erosion." The future of such a hybrid can not yet be foreseen, but it necessary that funding be provided so that such discoveries can continue to be made.

Picture from USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection
Source of Quotes 1: Altered Harvest by Jack Doyle, 1985
Source of Quotes 2: "The Last Harvest" by Paul Raeburn from   Electric Library